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Red Bull Racing, Formula One making noise in Austin

November 16, 2012

Mark Webber preparing for practice. Red Bull's Christian Horner knows his team is one of the best in the world. Photo by LAT PHOTOGRAPHIC

Christian Horner smiled inside the Red Bull tent on Saturday when it was brought to his attention that the music was blaring out of Red Bull Racing's Formula One garage louder—and later—than any other garage at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, on Friday night.

The Red Bull Racing team principal said on Saturday that a little extra loud comes with the territory when you work for a sponsor like Red Bull and a for a team on the verge of its third consecutive drivers' championship and third consecutive constructors' championship in Formula One racing.

“We have the music a little louder, and we may be there a little later than the other teams,” Horner said. “But nobody complains. Nobody wants to let the other guys down. We've put pressure on ourselves from year one to be successful.”

Red Bull Racing can wrap up both titles on Sunday at Circuit of the Americas, where Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel starts from the pole, teammate Mark Webber starts third, and nearest contender, Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, is further down on the grid in ninth.

Year one for Horner and Red Bull was in 2005, when Red Bull purchased the Jaguar Racing Team from Ford. Horner was tabbed to lead the operation, and it's proven to be a formidable racing marriage with 34 F1 wins. Championships are also starting to pile up.

“The first championship [in 2010], everything was exciting and new,” said Horner, who turned 39 on Friday. “It was tough defending it the second year. This year has been our toughest so far, our biggest challenge.”

Vettel trailed Fernando Alonso in the points throughout the middle portion of the season. Vettel didn't take his latest lead in the championship until three races ago with a win in the Korean Grand Prix. With just two drivers and two races left in the hunt, Vettel leads Alonso by 10 points.

“We just kept working on developing our car,” Horner said. “There's no silver bullet. It's all the details, not one in particular.”

Sunday's race is Vettel's 100th career F1 start, and he knows a win could possibly clinch another championship for the 25-year-old superstar.

“It's not the time to get excited now,” Vettel said. “Whether it's the 100th race or the 58th, it doesn't really matter.”

Horner added that the race—the first for F1 in the United States since 2007—is important for the team for other reasons besides the championship.

“This is a very important race for Red Bull,” Horner said. “It's our biggest race, hospitality-wise, and an important market for us. In some regards, it's more important than any race on our calendar.”

Horner knows that the eyes of the world—and not just those of U.S. F1 racing fans—will be focused on Austin on Sunday as the series and sponsors hope to reestablish themselves in this country.

“We need to put on a good show, and we need to engage the American public,” Horner said. “It's important that people see F1 at its best.”

Mike Pryson
- Mike Pryson covered auto racing for the Jackson (Mich.) Citizen Patriot and M-Live Media Group from 1991 until joining Autoweek as online motorsports editor In 2012.
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